While we prefer to keep the playing field level, we did
include wines from a range of vintages for this tasting. Being so far away from the
"source," we decided to include a 1994 vintage from Peter Lehmann in with the
field of 1996s and 1997s.

I found the wines to be quite good, even my last place wine was drinkable and complex.
My top 3 wines were in the very good to outstanding range.

The bad news is the wines are not inexpensive.

Here's the results:

Wine Identity

Gerald's Ranking

Ellen's Ranking

Bob's Ranking

Group Ranking

Total Points

1/2/8ths

D'Arenberg 1997 "The Dead Arm" $49.99

1

4

5

1

53

5/1/0

JIM BARRY1996 The Armagh $99.99

3

8

2

3

58

1/4/2

PETER LEHMANN1994 Stonewell $59.99

4

3

4

5

70

0/1/0

CHARLES MELTON1997 $38.99

7

5

1

7

81

1/2/3

MITCHELTON 1996 "Print Shiraz" $44.99

2

1

6

4

69

5/1/1

MOUNT HORROCKS 1997 $32.99

6

6

7

6

80

1/2/3

ROSEMOUNT ESTATE 1997 "Balmoral" $47.99

5

2

3

2

58

2/4/0

YARRA YERING 1996 Underhill$44.99

8

7

8

8

107

1/1/7

D'ARENBERG'S 1997 McLaren Vale "The Dead
Arm" was close to MITCHELTON'S 1996"Print
Shiraz" in quality and complexity. I had the Mitchelton as my top wine
all through the tasting, but gave the top spot to the D'Arenberg because I felt it was the
better balanced wine of the pair. If you are lucky enough to find a bottle of The
Dead Arm, you'll note it has a fragrance of sweet berries and ripe fruit, backed by a
vanilla cream perfume. In the mouth the wine is big, intense and seems to have
enough structure to last 5-10 years.ROSEMOUNT'S 1997 McLaren Vale "Balmoral" Syrah was liked by
many, though I felt it was a bit woody. The nose is dominated by oak, its fragrances
reminiscent of a lumber yard. In the mouth the wine is rich and ripe...very showy
with lots of oak. JIM BARRY'S 1996 Clare Valley "The Armagh" displays the sweet
perfume of violets and sandalwood with notes of cedar and mint. These elements were
evident on the palate, too. Mild tannins suggest 5-10 more years of aging.
Some tasters described this as being excessively high in alcohol and more
"port-like."MITCHELTON'S 1996 Victoria "Print Shiraz" finished fourth on
the group's scoresheet. This had, to my sniffer, the best nose. Violets,
cassis, oak, cinnamon and other spice elements came through. The wine, while ripe,
mildly jammy and intense, has a rather hard "edge" to it which caused me to drop
it to second place. Other tasters were put off, perhaps, by the astringency.PETER LEHMANN'S 1994 Barossa Valley "Stonewell" is a woodsy,
oaky, ripe, rich red with hints of sweet, jammy fruit in the back. The oak
dominates. I pegged this as a 1-2 star wine. Showy.MOUNT HORROCKS 1997 Clare Valley Shiraz was the 6th place finisher.
I found hints of stalky, vegetal, leafy notes detracting from this. It's a
rich and robust red wine, but the herbal notes were not appealing to my tastebuds.CHARLES MELTON'S 1997 Barossa Valley Shiraz finished 7th. This is
certainly a good wine, but it was a bit flat in comparison to the rest of the field.
Strawberry and raspberry jam notes are the highlights here. I'd be hesitant
to hold on to this for more than a few years.YARRA YERING'S 1996 Yarra Valley "Underhill" Shiraz was well
behind the group. While there's a berryish note to the fruit and mild oak, some were
put off by the vegetal, tomato leaf, tobacco-like notes on the nose. In the mouth
the wine is leaner and a shade more acidic than the others. Is this winery's
cult-like following a product of the scarcity of its wines?

Please note: The wines tasted are not always wines
we have (or have had) in the shop.
Many bottles are merely for our enological exploration.
Price quoted are current at the time of the tasting, but may be different
when you're reading this.

WE HAVE NOT ORGANIZED A TASTING IN A WHILE...
BUT WE DO POST THE RESULTS OF A PRIVATE TASTING GROUP THAT'S BEEN MEETING FOR
MORE THAN 40 YEARS!

We are working on
organizing some blind-tastings at the shop.
Send us a note to indicate your interest in participating.
These would be on Wednesday evenings and you'd need to bring 8 wine glasses.